


Amid The Frozen Night

by TheSpectralDuke



Series: Reinette and Rhel'to [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Birthday Sex, Cunnilingus, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Lemon, NSFW, Not Beta Read, Porn with Feelings, Tender Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:15:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28043787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpectralDuke/pseuds/TheSpectralDuke
Summary: A moon after her first night with Rhel'to, Reinette adjusts to her new life, learning the toils of the commonfolk firsthand while suffering scorn for her love. On her nameday, a chance encounter leaves her shaken, but Rhel'to has one last nameday gift for her to set the world to rights.
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Series: Reinette and Rhel'to [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045083
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Amid The Frozen Night

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all the kind folk at the Book Club for encouraging my fluffy smut. If you have a passion for FFXIV fanfic and want to join our fun, supportive community, feel free to come on in and follow Emet's instructions to get started: https://discord.gg/JQw5J4mVNm

With but a step through a doorway, Reinette Snowsfall traded uncomfortable warmth for biting cold. Snowflakes drifted lazily down from a sky blanketed in slate gray clouds, the moon's light only just peeking out between them. Around her shadows hung thick atop the snow that painted Ishgard stark white, torches flickering against the cold, her breath a veil of mist before her eyes. Even in hat, coat and gloves over dress and stockings the breeze was an icy knife against her, bringing her arms tight to her chest as she strode through the Brume with every step crunching beneath her.

On top of the cold, Reinette simply _ached_. Even a good moon into her new life and the work she had found with the kindness of strangers, she still felt raw to toil after year after year of luxury. Working as a barmaid was a world away from what she had known, especially on Windsday evening when taverns filled to brimming before taking the customary day of rest on Iceday. All evening for bells she had poured drinks, served nibbles, taken glasses and taken every comment in her stride, even when they pushed into the lewd or disparaging. Again she was reminded how Hilda had wished that there was a job available at the Forgotten Knight rather than the Behemoth's Head, but Reinette had no intention of seeming picky about her lot, even if it meant she was a 'highborn' lamb among 'common' wolves in many eyes.

For all the difference that the lord speaker and parliament had made, she mused as she struggled on through the snowfall, old resentment died slowly.

She passed through streets, eyeing rare passers-by warily, but though some spat in the snow at the sight of her and muttered curses under their breath, there was never anything more. Even on streets where torch-bearing guards didn't cast their firelight over her, the folk of the Brume knew who smiled on Reinette, and angering her patron was a prospect few if any would be willing to try. So even though they called her all manner of names without care for whether she could hear or not, none laid a finger on her nor on Rhel'to.

The thought of it pulled her lips downward just as the thought of him tried to make her smile. That night in the heavens she hadn't thought about the consequences of it all, how much their lives would change for their being together. Even the day her mother had cast her out like a leper and left a scar on her cheek hadn't taught her the depths of scorn the world had for those who found love outside their own kind. Saint Shiva's tale should have prepared her, but perhaps she had always held it as a faerie tale, not something reality bent in accordance with.

Reinette stopped a moment as two machinists passed, elezen and hyur side-by-side, smiling at her with the latter tipping his cap respectfully. Hilda's comrades, she had seen them about enough to recognize their faces in the gloom.

“Cold night, eh, Reinette?” the hyur said with a grin. “Hope Arthur's not worked ye to the bone.”

She forced a smile over her mixed feelings. “Just a regular Windsday, Vyncent.” If only, the elezen thought.

He laughed, a cloud of mist billowing over his face as he walked past. “Swept off yer feet, I'd wager.”

“Best get back to Rhel'to,” his elezen companion added. “Knowing him he'll have a mug of cocoa all ready for you.”

The auburn-haired woman nodded, a genuine smile making her lips creep up. “Yes, he will. Thank you both, and be safe.”

“Night, Reinette.” With a wave they were gone into the snow, leaving her to hurry on and up. She was nearly out of the Brume, passing along a wall and gazing out toward the curtain walls that separated Ishgard from the world beyond. How she longed to be _out there_ , in all the places she had spoken to Rhel'to about that night, rather than trapped in the snow and stone of Ishgard. For all the good that Ser Aymeric and the Warrior of Light seemed to have done the city, she had long since grown numb to it, longing too keenly for the world beyond.

She wanted to traverse the snows of Coerthas. She wanted to chart the corners of Dravania where the Horde had long made the land unsafe to venture. She wanted to delve into the Shroud with Rhel'to and see the woods where he had spent his life before Ishgard, mayhap even meet-

“Reinette?”

The voice cut through the crunch of her boot in the snow and her thoughts alike like a blade, stopping her halfway through the next step. Reinette turned to gaze through the falling flakes, finding another woman rested against the wall nearby, a torch a few paces down casting its firelight on her side. Though she too was bundled up against the weather, the sword at her hip was plain to see, familiar features peeking out from beneath a warm hat of fine wool with familiar ear-mitts at its sides. When she stepped away from the wall, the other elezen stood like a knight.

Because she _was_ a knight.

The hair that slipped over fur collar onto the knight's coat was the same hue as Reinette's own, her eyes again the same, but they were not identical by any stretch of imagination. The other woman's eyes were colder, prouder, her face made fierce by devotion to Halone. Where Reinette's clothes were muted grays, her coat was so white that had Reinette not known it was her sister she might have wondered if a knight of the Heavens' Ward had returned from the dead to visit her.

“Finnea?” she breathed, just loud enough to be heard. Snowflakes brushed her face and Reinette shivered, staring into eyes the same azure as her own. She had never seen Finnea seem so uncertain, her sister's teeth playing on a thin lip before words finally spilled out.

“I had heard you were down here in the Brume, but I scarcely believed it,” Finnea murmured. Fingers fidgeted against her coat.

A spark of anger lit fiercely in Reinette's breast. “Where else did you think I would be?” she asked. “Ever since the day mother cast me out-”

Finnea shook her head. “She regrets-” Reinette's laughter rang hollow, echoing off stone and snow.

“Mother? _Regret_? I never thought to see those two words put one after the other, Finnea,” she retorted, acid dripping in her tone even though she tried to quell it. But then, why should she? That day, Finnea, _Ser_ Finnea Clothilde had just stood by and watched without a word.

“She does!” Finnea insisted, her voice growing fiercer in answer to Reinette's ice. “We would like you to come _home_ , Reinette.”

“I'm heading _home_ ,” Reinette answered. “Back to Rhel'to.”

Finnea shook her head. “Reinette, what do you think will come of it? Whatever you feel for him, you are an elezen and he a miqo'te. It simply is not-”

“ _We aren't meant to be.”_ Rhel'to's voice echoed in time with Finnea's in Reinette's mind, but where they had been ash in his mouth, Finnea's were cold even though her voice was warm.

“I _love_ him,” the dark-clad elezen insisted. “Do you think I haven't seen what that means? That I haven't been spat at and cursed, scorned and mocked as a race traitor?” Fingers clenched hard against her palms. “And _why_? Had I bedded him once and then gone on my way, none would have batted an eye, but because we wanted something lasting we are both treated as... as _heretics_.”

Finnea's eyes narrowed. “We dropped heretics into Witchdrop, Reinette, for the base crime of consorting with the enemy. Would you class yourself as such?”

“I don't belong in the Pillars,” Reinette replied. “I barely belong here in Ishgard at all. You do, Finnea, absolutely, you took to mother's every expectation like cloudkin to the heavens. And I was _proud_ of that, glad to see you prosper. But now, when I find my own happiness, first you denounce me and cast me aside for daring to love outside the shallow boundaries you say are 'acceptable'-”

“Come home!” Finnea cried, reaching out a white-gloved hand. “You toil away in some seedy bar, suffering the leers and gropes of the commonfolk, taking their scorn and for what, exactly? A common man, a _foreigner_ , a miqo'te who will never be right for you, sister. Where do you expect you will end up once the novelty of it ends? Even should he give you a child, by some sick whim of fate, it will be a _half-breed_ for all to mock-”

Boots crunched on snow firm and fierce, quick in pace. Both women turned to find a third approaching, dressed in black, head bare despite the cold to reveal pointed ears. But her features were much too rough for an elezen, her hair black, eyes a searing hue of red and a machinist's carbine at her side. “What's all this shoutin' about?” Hilda Ware asked, sharp eyes resting on Finnea scathingly. “She botherin' you, Reinette?”

Finnea glared right back. “I am Ser Finnea Clothilde, her sister, so whatever we were discussing is scarcely your business, miss...?”

“Hilda,” the machinist answered. “And if you're shoutin' about _half-breeds_ , your _Ladyship_ , and badgerin' Reinette then it's my business.”

Finnea's blue eyes narrowed, glaring into Hilda's red. “I am here to bring my sister back home, where she belongs.”

“Tell mother that I shall gladly stay away,” Reinette replied. “But then, I might as well have been speaking to her, Finnea.”

That made the cold facade crack, Finnea's eyes ripped away from Hilda's to meet her sister's instead. “Reinette, please,” she said, voice a ghostly whisper. “How could you throw it all away for... for this? For him?”

“I was never _happy_ ,” she murmured in answer, mindful of Hilda's presence. Though the machinist backed up a step to give them room, it was plain she didn't mean to leave them. “Not for years, until I went up to the Sea of Clouds with Rhel'to. At first I thought it was just getting away from the city a while, getting to be _me_ for a while, but it was because of him, I know now.” She shivered as the wind blew keenly, Hilda drawing arms around herself sternly while Finnea stood like a statue with pleading eyes.

“Forget him,” the knight whispered. “If you come back, I can convince mother, I'm sure of it. I'm sure she regrets-”

Reinette shook her head. “Mother doesn't know what _regret_ is, Finnea. Only that I'm a disgrace to the family name, a stain to be washed out. It's better for all of us this way. I thought you agreed, seeing as you just stood there when she put this on my face.” A gloved finger brushed over the scar on her cheek and Finnea visibly wilted.

“I should have stopped her,” Reinette's sister murmured, head bowed in penitence. “Fury forgive me, I could have stopped her. I could have held her at bay with one hand, couldn't I?”

“But you didn't.”

“I didn't,” Finnea agreed softly. “And that was wrong. But you were meant for more than this, Reinette. You are a Clothilde.”

Slowly Reinette shook her head. “I am Reinette Snowsfall. I _love_ Rhel'to, and I _belong_ here.”

The knight stared, broken, aghast. Reinette felt a stab of pain at how wounded her sister looked, seeing how sincerely Finnea wished to bring her back no matter the reason. “Very well,” Finnea retorted quietly. “Fare well, Reinette. I shall pray for you.”

I don't need your prayers, her mind said, but Reinette kept the words behind her lips. “Farewell, Finnea. I... if you wish to meet, then I would like to see you again.” Mayhap it was a mistake to offer, because Finnea's eyes were like ice when they glanced back. She said nothing, just striding away through the snow on a course back toward the Pillars.

“Come on,” Hilda said, a moment after Finnea's white coat vanished into the snow. “I think Rhel'to and Stephanivien'd string me up if I let you freeze to death out here.”

“What were you doing down here?” Reinette asked as they strode on. “This isn't your normal route.”

Hilda grinned. “Didn't see you about like normal and thought I'd double back just in case. Her Ladyship there's lucky to be your sister, otherwise I wouldn't have been so polite when she started spitting about half-breeds.” Reinette sighed and Hilda softened. “Didn't think she missed you?”

“I thought they'd all written me off,” the elezen murmured. Fingers brushed her shoulder and she glanced to find Hilda's hand resting there just a moment.

“Let's get you home,” the machinist said warmly, snowflakes in her hair as they continued on. “Why'd she come down here today of all days?”

“It's my nameday,” Reinette said softly. “I suppose she thought it was some kind of present. For someone, anyway.”

Hilda nodded. “Can't say her spirit's in the wrong place if she misses you, but comin' down here saying the things she said was hardly going to get you in the mood for a family reunion.” They crested a flight of stairs and the Manufactory loomed before them, the statue of Reinette's namesake adorned in white over to the right. “I'd best get back to my rounds before the lads think I'm slackin' off, but if that man of yours hasn't got a cup of cocoa ready for you, tell him it's my orders, you hear me?”

Reinette chuckled despite herself, Hilda's concern a warm ember in her breast. “He'll be sat up waiting for me, I know. But thank you, Hilda.” She walked a few paces against the wind before the machinist's voice rang out again.

“Happy nameday, Reinette.” She turned back to return Hilda's smile, waving farewell as the dark-haired woman strode away to disappear in the increasing snowfall. The wind blew keener too, a snowstorm surely on its way, and so Reinette hurried up the street past the Manufactory, toward a door off to the side.

Toward _home_.

Gloved fingers shook with cold as she turned her key in the lock, passing out of the chill and back into the warm. But where the Behemoth's Head was unpleasantly warm, the heat of bodies packed too tightly, stinking of sweat and cheap ale, this was the warmth of hearth and home. As soon as she shut the door there he was, rushing out of the kitchen into the hallway. Grass green eyes bathed her face in love, a warm smile on his lips as he hurried to help her. He wore just a white shirt and black trousers, simple but perfect to her own eyes.

“Rhel'to,” she smiled wearily, hat dragged off her head in numb fingers once she dispensed with her gloves.

“Did anything happen? You're a little later than normal,” the walnut-haired keeper asked, undoing her coat's laces until she could just shrug it off and hang it up. She was left in a dress of dark blue and black stockings, both salvaged the day she fled her mother's rage. Reinette moved to sit on the stairs with him beside her, slumping into him and wishing she was shorter so she could more easily nestle her head against his neck while she untied her boots.

“Finnea was there,” the auburn-haired elezen murmured. “On my way home.”

Rhel'to nestled a little closer, arm wrapping around her and hand gently caressing her shoulder. “Your sister?” Reinette nodded against him. “What did she want? Just to see you?”

“She was trying to convince me to go back,” she said, one boot slipping off to leave her feet cold in a wet stocking. Despite her best efforts the snow had soaked through, making her frown as she peeled the stocking away. “She misses me, I think, but...” The other boot slipped off with a little less work, its stocking going the same way before Reinette put the boots in their proper place by the wall and snatched up the stockings. Rhel'to led her to the kitchen with a hand in hers, the lodgings still wonderfully warm even bells after the manufactory finished its work for the day.

A steaming mug of cocoa awaited her on the table and she beamed at her lover. “But what?” Rhel'to pressed gently, sitting beside her, brushing a kiss on her cheek before she drank.

“Just the way she spoke, love,” Reinette murmured, cupping her hands around the mug to try and warm them. “About you, about us... Hilda came to see that I was well and I think had Finnea not been my sister then they might have come to blows.” Her head bowed and she stared into the cocoa, feeling his lips brush her cheek again as he cuddled her tightly. “I thought I would be glad to leave them behind, but father and Finnea...”

“I know.” He rose a little to let her nestle against his chest, head tucked under his chin while he gently stroked a hand through her hair. “Mayhap one day they will accept us.”

Reinette shook her head wearily then took another sip. She drank too deeply and cocoa burned on her lip, pulling a hiss of pain from her mouth. “The hells will freeze cold as Coerthas before mother does that.” The keeper of the moon nuzzled against her and Reinette reciprocated warmly, kissing him with stinging lips, relishing his warmth against her cold body. “Hilda will be glad to know you were prepared with cocoa for me, Rhel'to.”

He pressed a warm kiss to her forehead. “I love you, Reinette, _always_.”

“And I you,” she breathed back, sipping down more cocoa. They stayed like that a while, cuddled close for him to pour his warmth into her while the drink bathed her throat in heat each time she drank. Slowly Reinette finished the mug then crossed to the basin to wash and dry it, Rhel'to her shadow with hands chastely on her sides. She felt his head rest against her shoulder blades as she worked, longing to relax into his touch every single second, but haunted by Finnea's wounded eyes. Idly she toweled the mug dry, rough cloth brushing on skin made dry by the cold's bite.

“Happy nameday, my love,” Rhel'to crooned to her when she had finished.

“You must have said that a thousandscore times today,” she giggled, at last finding some mirth.

“I must needs say it while I still can,” the keeper chuckled back. “It must be nearly Iceday by now.” He pulled away from her across the kitchen floor only to reach out a hand for her to take. “May I shower you in a few more gifts before it is done?” His gifts had been few but priceless, the hat she had worn was his gift, after all. Stephanivien had given a few things in his own right, continuing to show the same care he had since that day, even though she told him he had given her much and more beyond her wildest dreams. A roof over her head, a place beside the man she loved, it had been Stephanivien who sought Hilda's help with finding Reinette work after it became clear that despite her best efforts she simply wasn't adept enough with machinery for the manufactory and she had little wish to take up any weapon, even a machinist's.

“Please,” she murmured, and let him lead her by the hand. They left the kitchen and flowed up the stairs fast as Reinette could keep his pace, Rhel'to's strong legs letting him all but pounce up the steps two at a time. Without her he could surely have gone three at a time with no worry about falling, but as ever he cared about her more than anything, and she adored him more than anything in turn.

Stairs and hallway passed in a rush, all Reinette wanted was to lose herself in his embrace and so she followed earnestly until their bedroom door fell open with Rhel'to's key in the lock. They passed into their sanctuary and were engulfed in gloom once the door closed behind them, at least until Rhel'to ignited the lamp to bathe them in its warm glow.

“Praise the gods,” the miqo'te murmured, face resting against hers as they shared little kisses in the low light. “For deciding to bring you into this world all those years ago.”

Reinette smiled giddily. “Thank Menphina for bringing us together,” she answered, relishing the spark of joy in his eyes. They embraced tight and kissed warmly, hands caressing and stroking each other a while before Rhel'to guided her over to the bed.

“Are you tense, love?” he murmured, a kiss pressed to the tip of her nose.

Reinette nodded. Her shoulders _did_ ache from bearing heavy trays of ale and food about the Behemoth's Head for bell after bell. “Please, Rhel'to.” He grinned at her as she sat, moving to kneel behind her. The miqo'te's hands took her shoulders, thumbs gently stroking back and forth over the straps of her dress, and Reinette shivered at his touch.

“I love you,” the miqo'te breathed, fingers beginning their work. Carefully he kneaded at skin and muscle, calloused hands loosening her while Reinette breathed deeper. He had done it before but every time he massaged her so she savored it, feeling him begin to press kisses into her hair as he did each time. The elezen closed her eyes and let him continue, a little gasp passing her lips as skilled hands found just the spots to make her shiver in delight. Rhel'to's lips drew a path through auburn locks, seeking an ear to pour his love on, the base of her back resting against his knees as he prayed to her in caresses and kisses.

“Rhel'to,” she moaned softly a shudder of pleasure running down her spine as he pressed his lips to the tip of her ear. Slowly he suckled on the point while his fingers worked her shoulders more thoroughly, her muscles utterly loose now beneath those wonderful hands, eyes squeezed tight with more sounds teased from her lips. “Ah, ah, oh love...”

“I love you,” Rhel'to purred into the shell of her ear, lips flowing up through her hair again toward her crown. His fingers caught on her dress straps, asking without words, offering without a sound. Both of them knew where they would go should she accept, and he never had to say that at any moment she could stop them and that would be the end of it. For a moment she considered shaking her head, just letting him finish the massage and then cuddling to sleep in his arms, but Reinette knew she wanted more, as though Finnea's scornful words only made her want to affirm her love for Rhel'to even more out of defiance.

“I love you too,” Reinette breathed back, head tipping forward just enough to grant permission, then back as she felt his lips touch the very peak of her. Rhel'to drew away to let her stare straight into his eyes, their gazes meeting bright with love, then the miqo'te leaned forward and kissed her harder and more fiercely than before. Reinette moaned into his mouth and let him take her tongue, sucking on it as blue straps tumbled over the cliffs of her shoulders. The dress sagged a little but stayed up at her breast, Rhel'to's hands questing lower while they exchanged moaned names again and again.

Reinette felt him cup her breasts, accepting his touch by brushing her hands up and down his thighs as best she could while he still knelt behind her. Their mouths parted a second, just enough to draw in a breath each and then return to that wonderful kiss, accentuated by the feel of his fingers massaging her chest with his thumbs rested atop her soft nipples. Reinette knew they wouldn't stay soft for long, especially once he began to rub circles on them in between each knead of her breasts.

“Rest, Reinette,” the miqo'te panted when their faces parted again. “Oh, relax and let me tend you, my love. My last nameday gift to you.”

“Oh, you make me feel like all my namedays have come at once,” she smiled back, sharing a chuckle with him before he kissed down to take her neck in his care as well. Lips stroked gently just beneath the line of Reinette's jaw, teasing a little sigh of satisfaction out of her. Rhel'to's tail wrapped around him to caress her side up and down, up and down, reaching as far as he could toward her belly while his hands continued their work softly.

Reinette felt even warmer than ever, basking in his affection with every little touch, breath catching with his fingers tighter around her breasts. His kisses deepened too, each ending in a little suckle until she whined out loud for him. Rhel'to purred in response, the vibrations reverberating against her skin with each deepening kiss as he sought to wrap her in his loving touches. Even his tail quickened the pace of its strokes at her side, not as wonderfully intimate as lips on her neck and hands on her chest but so delightful all the same.

“Can I?” Rhel'to asked against her throat, hands moving so his fingers rested on the top of her dress. Just a little slip and it would slide off the perch it had found.

“Please,” Reinette breathed, voice strained with the raw pleasure in her nerves. Eagerly he seized her answer, carefully pulling on blue cloth until it fell free. The dress flowed down past her chest and over her belly, pooling about her hips with just a strapless white band left to guard her bust from him. The miqo'te left her neck unattended just a moment to remedy that, his hands deserting their own post with only his tail left to stroke its wonderfully soft fur against her side. Deft fingers had the knot undone swiftly and Reinette let the band fall away, brushing it to the floor without a care as Rhel'to returned eagerly.

His gray palms pressed against her hardening nipples and Reinette breathed deeper, loving the stroke of his fingers on sensitive breasts, moaning when he suckled on her neck again. He was still gentle, nothing he did leaving a mark on her but his tender touch was more than enough for the elezen to feel heat and wetness pool between her thighs. The warmth Rhel'to bathed her in was like sunlight in the spring for a flower, making her feel like she bloomed after so long in the frozen night.

“Oh, ah, I love you Rhel'to!” she cried out as his hands tightened on her just enough to make sparks dance through her skin.

“Oh, Reinette,” he breathed hot against her neck, kisses falling toward her collarbone, his purrs making his voice husky. Just the sound of him made her shiver, his embrace tightening even more in answer. They stayed like that a while, Rhel'to kissing and suckling at the base of her throat with hands continuing to knead and caress so perfectly softly. Hotter and hotter Reinette burned beneath his touch, loving him, wanting him, both so keen as she longed for more and more.

“I want to see you, Rhel'to,” she whined, her lover letting up to listen to her. Slowly and reluctantly he let her go, crawling so he knelt beside her at the bed's edge. Reinette drank in the sight of him, so casual, so wonderful, those green eyes alight as they rested on her face. She took him in a slow kiss, losing one hand in his hair and the other on the small of his back, pulling him back and down until they toppled to rest on the sheets still intertwined. With everything they embraced, his hands and arms wrapped against her bare back, legs moving to let Reinette slip into place against him with his tail another point of contact against her hip. Not for the first time the elezen wished she had one too just to twine it with his and make their embrace even more intimate, but then what they had was already so perfect.

“What would you like, love?” Rhel'to panted when they parted, even a tender kiss so deep that they were left breathless. Reinette just stared over his face a moment, his dark skin soft beneath a brush of her lips on his chin, lips agape just enough for her to glimpse his broken fang. Her heart swelled just to lay beside him and take him in so, no matter how many times she did it she would never have her fill.

“Please, keep touching me,” she murmured. He smiled and stroked her hair just once, her eyes slipping closed as she relished the gesture. “And may I see some more of you, love?” She let a smile turn her lips and Rhel'to chuckled, stopping from where he had been about to descend her body.

“I love you,” he answered as he went back on his knees, unlacing his shirt in his haste to please her. Reinette's eyes wandered down his exposed chest, fingers reaching to stroke through walnut curls from torso over belly, teasing at the hem of his trousers with her gaze finding a bulge beginning to grow. “Would you like to rest on the pillow, love?”

Reinette looked back to his face as she nodded, sliding herself onto her back with her head on their pillow, dress a puddle of cloth around her hips and thighs.. Though Stephanivien had offered to provide a larger bed, a larger room even, they had both decided they were happy with things as they were. Having little space was a small price to pay when she had the privilege of sleeping in Rhel'to's arms every single night, after all. The miqo'te dropped his shirt to the floor, crawling over to lean over her until their faces lay ilms apart. Her fingers rubbed up and down his chest, buried in his hair and loving the feel of him.

“I love you,” the elezen murmured, leaning in time with him to kiss again. Once that kiss ended Rhel'to moved back slowly, laying a trail of kisses down her chin, her throat, over her collar. Reinette knew what he sought and soon enough he came to her breasts once more, laying his mouth on one with her breath hitching at the feel of him. Rhel'to's eyes never left her face as he worked, teasing at pale skin with butterfly kisses, suckling just once then releasing in a ring around her hardening nipple. Each release made his warm breath wash over her, goosebumps rising in his wake as he drew closer and closer to the peak of her breast. “Rhel'to, please...”

Immediately he moved to take the nipple between his lips, tongue brushing over it and tugging a groan from her lips, then Rhel'to bathed it in the wet warmth of his mouth. The miqo'te leaned on his elbows so his hands could caress her sides, eyes still on her, his tail arcing down to stroke at her hip still. Reinette's legs were parted around him but he kept his hips back, true to his word, focused entirely on pleasing her without a thought for his own needs. How she _cherished_ him, breathing heavier by the minute, losing herself to the pleasure and the depths of his loving eyes. Her own hands crept up to his ears, gently petting until she felt him purr once more, the vibration only heightening her pleasure as Rhel'to danced his mouth from the fully hardened nipple to work at its twin.

How _overwhelmed_ she felt, how she burned beneath him, and how she relished every second of it, surely her own eyes were as bright with joy as his were. She reached down him with one hand, longing to reciprocate, but she couldn't reach his tail and the spot her fingers searched for. The elezen settled for his back instead, rubbing circles on his shoulder blade as best she could while he crooned gently onto her breast. Deeper he suckled, on the edge of marking her but his teeth and fangs played no part save accidental brushes against her skin. They had charted every ilm of one another over the last moon and so he knew just how to pleasure her, just where to kiss and suckle to make Reinette shiver and moan.

Shiver and moan she did, fingers clenching in his hair, hips beginning to rock as she yearned for him to do _more_ , to descend lower and touch the very core of her.

“Oh, Rhel'to!” she cried out, not caring who heard, not caring who knew. “Rhel'to, please, please, I need...” She didn't need to finish, he surely knew and wanted the same. At her plea he left her breasts behind, sliding himself down her body and leaving her hand to take his place. Reinette gently caressed herself, watching him intently as he drew back further than he needed. For the third time fingers rested on the dress and immediately she nodded, lifting her hips to let Rhel'to slide the blue gown down her legs and off her body completely. It joined their other clothes on the floor to leave her in nothing but white panties. The elezen thought he might rid her of those too, but Rhel'to merely returned to where he had left off.

Kisses trailed over her belly, Rhel'to pausing at her belly button to blow on it teasingly. Reinette whined in mock protest and he chuckled just a little, continuing on his path, one hand hovering oh so _close_ to her, fingers surely an ilm from brushing on her flower. Reinette rocked her hips, wanting that touch, her clear need spurring him to kiss quicker from light skin onto white cloth. She felt the brush of his lips through panties and bush alike, tensing as he drew closer then gasping aloud as Rhel'to kissed at her labia. A moment later his fingers joined his mouth, tending her through damp cloth so tenderly that he stole her breath away.

“Ah, ah, oh Fury...” Words slipped out without thought, Reinette leaning with her free hand to pet at his ears again and return even a little of the pleasure he bathed her in. Rhel'to's tongue brushed the line of her folds and the elezen cried out, gasping for breath in his wake while a finger pressed just enough to part her. Up and down Rhel'to rubbed, eyes closed now to savor her, her legs slipping wider as she begged with body and voice for him to touch her deeper. One arm folded beneath him held him up enough to reach her sex, the other at work against her folds, so it was his tail that continued to stroke and caress first one shin then the other, over and over. “Rhel'to, ah- oh please, Rhel'to, inside me...” she gasped and he obeyed, again drawing back just enough that he could get her smalls down and off her.

Though he was still gentle and tender, Reinette glimpsed the hunger in his eyes as he fell back to the apex of her thighs. Lips brushed on her thighs, building her anticipation again as he moved from one to the other, leaving wet marks behind him as his mouth kissed over auburn hair. The elezen shivered in want, again caressing his ear as he drew closer, closer-

Reinette's head tipped back as mouth and fingers both parted her petals, Rhel'to's tongue licking first followed by two fingers slipping inside her. He was still so gentle yet his touch was maddeningly good, her whole body singing in answer to each brush of tongue, each suckle on her folds, each gentle clench of his fingers against her walls. She lifted her legs so that she could bring her feet to his back, stroking clumsily but affectionately, winning a little smile from a mouth stained with her nectar. Rhel'to tasted her in earnest, keeping his pace slow and letting her pleasure last as long as they both could bear. It wasn't that his tenderness was _new_ , far from it, but to just lay there and let him gently lap at her was like a balm for her every ill. Reinette simply basked in their love warm and content, breathing his name like a prayer, feeling hers purred in answer right into her heat and feeling her heart dance every time Rhel'to did it.

The miqo'te's tail continued its gentle stroking, she hadn't realized just how much control of his tail he had until he had begun using it to caress her so and it had been a very welcome discovery from that first day. The brush of fur on skin added to the feel of his fingers and mouth at work, teasing her voice louder and her pleasure hotter. Longing to reciprocate in spite of him wanting her to relax, Reinette reached to rub his ear more, whimpering aloud as he delved his tongue deeper into her core. It brushed softly over each and every fold of her until she fell flat again, head tipping back, hips rocking against his face in raw instinct. Her lover trailed a line of kisses back up from where his fingers slowly pressed in and out, finding the nub of her clit and brushing his tongue over it.

“Rhel'to!” His voice was torn from her lips by a surge of pleasure, levinbolts dancing through her nerves and making the elezen shiver even before the second stroke rubbed across her pearl. Rhel'to's eyes slipped open, again staring at her with such raw adoration he almost brought her to tears before her own gaze gave way to darkness. Her eyes pressed closed as the miqo'te's lips took her nub, suckling gently but his touch was so magical that Reinette felt on the very precipice of heaven. Her breath hitched at each divine suckle, another finger carefully joining its siblings inside her, filling her so snugly that she moaned Rhel'to's name at the feel of it.

The elezen's hips bucked in answer as her lover dared to suckle a little harder, wailing breathlessly, it might have started as his name but the waves of pleasure burning through her reduced the cry to something raw and ecstatic. Rhel'to almost stopped but her hand pressed to keep him in place, Reinette looking up to cast a reassuring glance. His eyes seemed brighter than ever, tail stroking back and forth swiftly over her legs like the act of pleasuring her stoked his own flames of love to greater heights. Wonderful as it was, Reinette longed for _more_ , wanted his face back against hers, wanted to kiss him giddy and hold him.

“Love,” she moaned, another levinbolt of ecstasy coursing through her to make the word ring strained. Rhel'to took a moment to stop, so engrossed in his task, but his fingers came to rest still in her as his sodden mouth drew back. His ears twitched beneath her touch, his eyes questioning before he could speak.

“Yes, my love?” he breathed, gently panting in turn from how long he had spent buried in her flower.

Reinette gathered her own breath, breast still heaving and skin slick with sweat. “Make love to me, please,” she finally gasped out, still overcome, trembling just from the memory of his touch and the fingers still inside her. Rhel'to moved on the verge of hurrying, legs slipping over the bed's edge as he rushed to shed socks, trousers and smalls. At last he was bare for her, cock fully erect with his pre beading at its tip, legs hairy like his chest. When he returned to her Reinette breathed his scent deeply, oil and metal and sweat, so perfect just as ever. She almost regretted growing used to it, the first times she had smelled him so it had been magical, little forays closer than employer and employee should have been.

How far they had come from those days, she thought as Rhel'to's hands came to rest either side of her head, the miqo'te crawling into place over her. He waited for her instruction even so, cock hovering not even an ilm from her sodden slit, his eyes ablaze with want for her. He was _hers_ , she thought suddenly, more devoted to her than to any other, looking at her as though she was more divine than the Fury herself, than Menphina, even. Again Reinette's heart danced, she was sure it skipped a beat if not two, and her body moved before her mind could catch up. Lips pressed on his face, his loving _beautiful_ face, dull pink lips on gray skin again and again, Rhel'to's breaths hot and husky as the elezen brushed herself against his length. They groaned in time with one another as hard red cock found wet pink slit, parting Reinette just a little until a moan broke the chain of longing kisses.

“Oh Reinette...” Rhel'to breathed, kissing her back, her hands circling his back, her legs trying to spread wider for him. He stroked the back of a hand over her cheek just once as she lay breathless on the pillow, her hair a sheet of auburn across the gray cloth, chest rising and falling so swiftly as she gasped beneath him. The keeper of the moon smiled with radiant eyes, slowly lining himself up with her with the shortest glances down he could manage, like he couldn't bear to look away from her for more than a second at a time.

“Rhel'to...” Reinette gasped, drawing out his name as his member pushed into her. Slowly, carefully her lover filled her right to the brim, undoubtedly she could take him by now without concern, but drawing it out only made the moment more special. This was a gift, after all, she thought as she craned her neck up to plea for another kiss, receiving his answer with his lips on hers. They held together as their hips met, moaning into each other and letting their tongues join the fray while Rhel'to took a moment. One of Reinette's hands flowed up his spine into his walnut hair, caressing, finding an ear to stroke and rub until he purred into her mouth. Oh _gods_ , he began to move again and her thoughts tore fragile as spiderwebs, only the overwhelming heat of her love for him burning in her mind and heart alike.

First she sucked on his tongue, then she let him reciprocate to hers, moaning and whining as the miqo'te moved in and out. The elezen kept playing with his hair, her other hand finally creeping down his back until she found his tail. Rhel'to's breath hitched in anticipation just from a finger stroking over the spot at its base, moaning into Reinette's mouth as he took her to his hilt in time with her rubbing into his tailbone.

“ _Reinette_ by Menphina-!” he cried, their mouths pulled apart as he gasped and groaned. Reinette continued his ministrations, head tipping to bare her throat for him, hand guiding him down until his face lay buried against her neck. His thrusts stayed slow and gentle where normally he would have quickened, his mouth giving her only kisses and the softest little nips, the sheer tenderness of it utterly arousing regardless. She spoke his name in breathy little moans with each press of his hips to hers, shivers tracing the length of her spine each time she felt rather than heard her own name moaned in answer. Words began to fail them as ever, short gasps all they could manage in the throes of pleasure. Their names were the two most common words, brimming with as much love, adoration and want as they could possibly pour into each moan, each gasp, each cry.

Rhel'to's tail swished wildly behind him in his passion, her fingers still playing at its base as best she could while the keeper thrust in and out of her at the same steady pace, her neck sodden with sweat and the wake of his kisses both. He climbed over the ridge of her jaw, seeking out her face, bathing it in kisses all over with her name breathed between each one like his mantra. Reinette answered as best she could until they were both giddy and kiss drunk, climbing toward their climaxes quicker and quicker as they showered one another in passionate longing.

Reinette could feel herself coming undone, core throbbing to the beat of her heart, folds flooded with nectar around the cock that fit so snugly inside her. She moaned breathily as Rhel'to pushed into her spot, head falling away from his to collapse against the pillow. He chased her down, stretching to kiss at her chin as best he could without losing the leverage to continue. Her legs wrapped around him, arms outstretched to cling to his shoulders. Again she fleetingly yearned to have a tail to twine with his, wishing to embrace every ilm of him at the height of their climaxes.

“Ah, ah, ah, _oh Rhel'to_ -!” Everything was swept away in a tide of raw ecstasy, so exquisite, so divine, only his touch left as she stretched his name into an orgasmic scream. Lost in her throes she only barely felt Rhel'to's seed splatter hot across her walls, pooling around his cock within her flower as she rocked against him passionately. Limp arms fell off his shoulders like her dress straps had tumbled from hers, flopping boneless to the sheets, toes clenching tight with her every nerve ignited. The inferno in her core was spent in an instant that lasted an age, the miqo'te's name gasped again and again as the only thing she could cling to, the only thing she _wanted_ to cling to.

Together they came down from their high to lay twined atop the sheets, Rhel'to panting against her neck, her breasts rising and falling against his chest. Languidly Reinette stroked his hair, pressing little kisses to one of his ears as he recovered from his climax and murmured her name. Exhaustion bit at her limbs in earnest, her every reserve spent making love to him, but it was _worth it_ , _more_ than worth it to have reached the heights of pleasure with Rhel'to again.

At last he lifted his head, smiling wearily. “Happy nameday, Reinette.”

The elezen pecked his lips, it likely wasn't her nameday any more but she hardly cared. “Full glad am I to end it like this, Rhel'to.” She slipped her hand off of his now still tail to grope under the best as best she could for a towel. They had quickly learned to make such preparations for when the mood took them, even if they always took care of their own laundry it proved time-consuming to wash stains from the sheets again and again.

The miqo'te smiled as he helped her slip the towel beneath her hips, trembling a little still while he slipped his softened cock out of her. Reinette felt their combined seed and slick run down her thighs to pool in the towel, lifting her head to watch as Rhel'to bent down to lap a few times. He crawled back up to her, sharing the taste with her in a gentle kiss, tongues slowly stroking on each other while the miqo'te reached to rub the towel over her sex and his cock. Reinette whimpered a little at the rough cloth on her sensitive folds, Rhel'to kissing at her cheeks until the cleaning was done and the towel discarded on the floor. They could tend to it and their abandoned clothes come morning, Rhel'to leaving her side just a moment to put the lamp out.

For the time being, they moved to snuggle close and draw the covers over their bare bodies, exploring by touch in the gloom. Arms wrapped around one another, Rhel'to's tail a gentle touch at her hip with their legs laid over each other carefully. They embraced as close as they could, foreheads gently touching as their heads came to rest on the pillow. For a moment they just _listened_ , feeling heartbeats, hearing breaths drawn in and out over the quiet sounds of Ishgardian night.

“I love you,” Reinette whispered, leaning forward to press another kiss to his lips. “Thank you, Rhel'to. For making my nameday special. For all that you have given me.”

Tears brimmed in his eyes and gently she kissed at them as they slid onto his skin. “Thank _you_ ,” the miqo'te murmured, gathering himself. “For loving me, Reinette.” She rubbed soothing circles on his back, kissing the tip of his nose once his joyful tears passed.

“I always will,” the elezen said softly. “No matter what they say, no matter what they think, I love you, Rhel'to. I swear by... by the Mothercrystal, by the Fury, by _everything_ that I do.”

He smiled. “You don't need to swear by anything. I can see it in your eyes, love.” Reinette beamed back, kissing him again before nestling him close to her, not wanting to close her eyes, wanting to just stare at the beautiful, wonderful man in her arms until she drifted off to slumber. It seemed Rhel'to had the same idea, a chuckle passing his lips. “I could just lay here like this forever and never be happier.”

Reinette giggled quietly. “We were meant to travel the world, find strange and wonderful new life, and you would rather lay in bed with me for all time?”

He pressed his lips to the tip of her nose affectionately. “One day I would still love to come with you on your travels, love, but for now all I want is to fall asleep in your arms like this.” It was a sobering thought she'd had that those travels seemed a distant goal indeed, but the overwhelming warmth of the moment didn't let that thought intrude as they nuzzled against each other. Reinette didn't know how long they stayed with eyes on each other, just relishing the sight of the person they each loved most for as long as they could in the darkness.

She felt like his love was a furnace in her breast, warming her from within, protecting her from the cold in all its forms. The cold of frozen night, the icy scorn of others, all of it was burnt away when he held her, kissed her, whispered that he loved her as he slipped into dreams she was sure were full of her. For a while longer the elezen lay and watched, bringing a hand to caress his cheek lovingly, offering thanks with all her heart to whatever deity had ordained the day they met. He murmured in his sleep and she kissed his face again, holding him tight to her until at last she too slipped off into sleep.

In her dreams they ran hand in hand beneath the sunlit trees, dancing over rock and root alike with song in their hearts.


End file.
